Beta-alanine uptake is not a marker for brain astroglia in culture.
The properties of the beta amino acid transport system were examined in cultivated rat brain astrocytes, using the specific probe, beta-alanine. The uptake of beta-alanine is thought to be glial specific. Beta-alanine was not actively transported and the intracellular accumulation was not altered by coincubation with GABA, alanine, glutamate, or methionine. We suggested therefore that beta-alanine is passively taken up by a mechanism distinct from the transport system for GABA.
D000409:Alanine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007700:Kinetics; D051381:Rats; D015091:beta-Alanine / Q000378:metabolism*
D000596:Amino Acids; D015091:beta-Alanine; D000409:Alanine